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Many conservatives, including this one, have been slow to join those demanding action by the government to quickly stem the tide of illegal immigration. For one thing, this is a nation of immigrants—the sons and daughters of intrepid parents unwilling to accept dictatorship, religious persecution or economic exploitation. True, both my paternal and maternal grandparents entered the country legally. But had they found it necessary to evade the border guards and Dobermans so that a generation or two later I would not personally have to face the Dreyfus plotters, the Stalins and the Hitlers, my reaction would have been more gratitude, not less.

As conservatives too, we appreciate the simple laws of supply and demand that have attracted working class folks from the far reaches of this planet, not to mention the benefits they convey upon employers. Through students pursuing investigative assignments for my Foreign Reporting class, I have been introduced to illegal immigrant households with as many as 22 renters—all illegal aliens, most sending money back home, many others saving up for a final shopping bash which included purchases of ovens, refrigerators, and living room furniture, along with lap-tops, cell phones and pricey watches.

There comes a time, however, when a country might conclude with respect to immigration from certain regions that enough is enough. Perhaps drug dealing among the immigrants has gone too far. Or other contraband is being smuggled into the country by the so-called “mules.” Perhaps the economy is changing, with, for example, a shrinking demand for low-wage jobs. Or a society may decide that the massive influx of low (or no)wage workers puts too much of a burden on programs designed either to cushion the impact of low wages on individual families or their dependents. Public services may also feel a sudden down-turn in the resources devoted to protecting the poor, including illegal aliens…public education, unemployment compensation social security, Medicaid, hospitalization for the under-employed, not to mention the extra work of police, fire-fighters.

By this time, the number of illegal immigrants has sky-rocketed and with the increase in numbers comes increased political power, the illegal immigrant lobby assuming a blocking position designed to halt any sustained cuts in the illegals now in the country or cuts in the food and economic benefits calling by those in desperate. The weighty political machine is ready to respond to political emergency at a moment’s notice. Consider the national response triggered by the state of Arizona’s move to strengthen the ability of Arizona troopers to block illegal aliens from entering the country. Despite overwhelming precedent gathered to disabuse folks of the fear that Arizona’s action would institutionalize racist police activities and result too in the massive destructive of civil liberties for all Arizonan, those on the left pandered to fanciful fears of a collapse of civil liberties. The talk soon turned to ways of punishing Arizona—boycotts, canceling trips to or conventions in the Grand Canyon State.. Rarely mentioned was that Arizona’s action was made necessary by the failure of the federal government to enforce its own immigration laws, thus making it necessary for Arizona to act on its own.. The Left, however, has never been good at winning political battles in which public safety was pitted against threats to the security of a community’s homes or its streets and this case may prove to be no exception.

Despite an avalanche of left-wing propaganda, the nation seemed more inclined to believe that a border-crossing, violent crime wave posed a greater threat to civil liberties than steps designed to let those responsible for law enforcement to do their jobs. When last observed, many partisan Democrats were heard calling for measures even tougher than Arizona’s to get a handle on the illegal immigrant fiasco. Once again the partisan race was on: Republicans seeking to reinforce their reputation as the party of security; Democrats theirs, as the party of civil rightsk but with an asterisk.

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